Download - Pie Chart Help

Show All

Excel 2007 Home > Excel 2007 Help and How-to > Charts > Chart types

Search help

More on Office.com: downloads | images | templates

Present your data in a pie chart

Using Microsoft Office Excel 2007, you can quickly turn your data into a pie chart, and then give that pie chart

a spiffy, professional look.

After you create a pie chart, you can rotate the slices for different perspectives. You can also focus on specific slices by pulling

them out of the pie chart, or by changing the chart type to a pie of pie or bar of pie chart to draw attention to very small slices.

In this article

Learn more about plotting data in a pie chart

Create an elaborate pie chart

Rotate the slices in a pie chart

Pull out slices of a pie chart

Draw attention to small slices in a pie of pie or bar of pie chart

Save a chart as a template

Learn more about plotting data in a pie chart

Pie charts show the size of items in one data series, proportional to the sum of the items. The data points in a pie chart are

displayed as a percentage of the whole pie. Because you can plot only one data series in a pie chart, the worksheet data

should be arranged in one column or one row. You can also include a column or row of category names, as long as that

column or row is the first column or row in the selection. Categories are then presented in the legend of the pie chart.

Consider using a pie chart when:

• You have only one data series that you want to plot.

• None of the values that you want to plot is negative.

• None of the values that you want to plot is a zero (0) value.

• You don't have more than seven categories.

of 8Excel 2007 Help

22/01/2012http://office.microsoft.com/client/helppreview.aspx?AssetId=HA102118489990&lcid...

• The categories represent parts of the whole pie.

When you create a pie chart, you can choose one of the following pie chart subtypes:

• Pie and pie in 3-D Pie charts display the contribution of each value to a total in a 2-D or 3-D format. You can pull out

slices of a pie chart manually to emphasize the slices.

• Pie of pie and bar of pie Pie of pie or bar of pie charts display pie charts with user-defined values that are extracted

from the main pie chart and combined into a secondary pie chart or into a stacked bar chart. These chart types are

useful when you want to make small slices in the main pie chart easier to distinguish.

• Exploded pie and exploded pie in 3-D Exploded pie charts display the contribution of each value to a total while

emphasizing individual values. Exploded pie charts can be displayed in 3-D format. You can change the pie explosion

setting for all slices and individual slices, but you cannot move the slices of an exploded pie manually. If you want to

pull out the slices manually, consider using a pie or pie in 3-D chart instead.

TOP OF PAGE

Create an elaborate pie chart

of 8Excel 2007 Help


So, how did we create this pie chart? The following procedure will help you create a pie chart with similar results. For this chart,

we used the example worksheet data. You can copy this data to your worksheet, or you can use your own data.

1. Copy the example worksheet data into a blank worksheet, or open the worksheet that contains the data that you want

to plot into a pie chart.

How to copy the example worksheet data

1

2

3

4

5

6

A B

Lunch Sales

Sandwiches 40

Salads 21

Soup 15

Beverages 9

Desserts 15

2. Select the data that you want to plot in the pie chart.

3. On the Insert tab, in the Charts group, click Pie.

4. Under 3-D Pie, select Pie in 3-D.

5. Click the plot area of the pie chart.

This displays the Chart Tools, adding the Design, Layout, and Format tabs.

6. On the Design tab, in the Chart Layouts group, select the layout that you want to use.

TIP For our pie chart, we used Layout 2.

NOTE Layout 2 displays a legend. If your chart has too many legend entries or if the legend entries are not easy to

distinguish, you may want to add data labels to the slices of the pie chart instead of displaying a legend (Layout tab,

Labels group, Data Labels button).

7. On the Design tab, in the Chart Styles group, click the chart style that you want to use.

TIP For our pie chart, we used Style 2.

8. On the Format tab, in the Shape Styles group, click Shape Effects, and then click Bevel.

9. Click 3-D Options, and then under Bevel, click the Top and Bottom bevel options that you want to use.

of 8Excel 2007 Help


TIP For our pie chart, we used Circle.

10. In the Width and Height boxes for Top and Bottom bevel options, type the point size that you want.

TIP For our pie chart, we used 512 pt.

11. Under Surface, click Material, and then click the material option that you want to use.

TIP For our pie chart, we used Plastic.

12. Click Close.

13. On the Format tab, in the Shape Styles group, click Shape Effects, and then click Shadow.

14. Under Outer, Inner, or Perspective, click the shadow option that you want to use.

TIP For our pie chart, we used Below under Perspective.

15. To rotate the chart for a better perspective, select the plot area, and then on the Format tab in the Current Selectiongroup, click Format Selection.

16. Under Angle of first slice, drag the slider to the degree of rotation that you want, or type a value between 0 (zero) and

360 to specify the angle at which you want the first slice to appear, and then click Close.

TIP For our pie chart, we used 350.

17. Click the chart area of the chart.

18. On the Format tab, in the Shape Styles group, click Shape Effects, and then click Bevel.

19. Under Bevel, select the bevel option that you want to use.

TIP For our pie chart, we used Circle.

20. If you want to use theme colors that are different from the default theme that is applied to your workbook, do the

following:

1. On the Page Layout tab, in the Themes group, click Themes.

2. Under Built-in, click the theme that you want to use.

TIP For our pie chart, we used the Origin theme.

TOP OF PAGE

Rotate the slices in a pie chart

The order in which data series in pie charts are plotted in Office Excel 2007 is determined by the order of the data on the

worksheet. For a different perspective, you can rotate the pie chart slices within the 360 degrees of the circle of the pie chart.

1. In a pie chart, click the data series or a data point, or do the following to select it from a list of chart elements.

1. Click the chart.


2. On the Format tab, in the Current Selection group, click the arrow next to the Chart Elements box, and then

click the data series or data point that you want.

of 8Excel 2007 Help


2. On the Format tab, in the Current Selection group, click Format Selection.

3. Under Angle of first slice box, drag the slider to the degree of rotation that you want, or type a value between 0 (zero)

and 360 to specify the angle at which you want the first slice to appear.

TOP OF PAGE

Pull out slices of a pie chart

To emphasize the individual slices of a pie chart, you can use the exploded pie or exploded pie in 3-D chart type when you

create the chart. Exploded pie charts display the contribution of each value to a total while emphasizing individual values. You

can change the pie explosion setting for all slices or individual slices, but you cannot move the slices of an exploded pie

manually.

If you want to pull out the slices manually, consider using a pie or pie in 3-D chart instead.

CHANGE THE SETTINGS OF SLICES IN AN EXPLODED PIE CHART1. In the exploded pie chart, click the data series or a data point, or do the following to select the data series from a list of

chart elements:

1. Click the chart.



click the data series.


3. Under Pie Explosion, drag the slider to increase or decrease the percentage of separation, or type the percentage of

separation that you want in the percentage box.

PULL OUT SLICES OF A PIE CHART MANUALLY

Click the pie chart, and then do one of the following:

of 8Excel 2007 Help


• To pull all of the slices out of the pie chart, drag away from the center of the chart.

• To pull individual slices out of the pie chart, click the slice that you want to pull out, and then drag that slice away from

the center of the chart.

TOP OF PAGE

Draw attention to small slices in a pie of pie or bar of pie chart

When several data points in a pie chart each amount to less than 5% of the pie, it becomes hard to distinguish the slices.

To make smaller slices more visible in a pie chart, you can use a pie of pie or bar of pie chart type. Each of these chart types

separates the smaller slices from the main pie chart and displays them in a secondary pie or stacked bar chart.

The data labels in the secondary pie chart display the same percentage values as in the regular pie chart. The percentages in

the secondary pie chart represent the slices that were separated from the main pie chart, and they do not total 100%. All slices

are part of the same data series.

When you select the pie of pie or bar of pie chart type, the last third of the data points is moved into the secondary chart by

default. For example, if there are seven to nine data points in the chart, the last three points are plotted in the secondary chart.

However, you can change how data points are distributed across the main and secondary pie chart, and you can change how

they are displayed.

CREATE A PIE OF PIE OR BAR OF PIE CHART1. In the worksheet, select the data that you want to plot in a pie of pie or bar of pie chart.

2. On the Insert tab, in the Charts group, click Pie, and then click Pie of Pie or Bar of Pie.

of 8Excel 2007 Help


NOTES

• The main and secondary charts are always positioned horizontally and adjacent to each other. They cannot be moved

independently. The left chart is always the main chart.

• You cannot select the individual charts or format them separately. Both the main and secondary charts are part of one

data series. You can only select the entire data series or its individual data points, and then apply formatting to the

selection.

• Connector lines are automatically added to indicate the association between the main and secondary charts. You can

format the connector lines by applying different line styles. You can also remove connector lines.

• Depending on how many decimal places are specified for percentages on the Number tab of the Format Cells dialog

box (Home tab, Number group, Dialog Box Launcher ), percentages that are displayed in data labels may be

rounded so that they don't add up correctly.

CHANGE THE DISTRIBUTION AND DISPLAY OF DATA POINTS1. In the pie of pie or bar of pie chart, select the data series or a data point, or do the following to select the data series

from a list of chart elements:

1. Click the chart.



click the data series.


3. In the Split Series By box, click the type of data that you want to display in the secondary chart.

4. To adjust the number of data points that appear in the secondary chart, do the following:

• If you chose to split the series by position, in the Second plot contains the last values box, enter a different

number.

• If you chose to split the series by value or percent value, in the Second plot contains all values less than box,

type a different number.

• To change the placement of a selected data point, in the Point belongs to box, click First Plot or Second Plot.

1. To change the space between the slices, under Pie Explosion or Point Explosion, drag the slider to increase or

decrease the percentage of separation, or type the percentage of separation that you want in the percentage box.

2. To change the space between the charts, under Gap Width, drag the slider to increase or decrease the number, or

type the number that you want in the percentage box.

NOTE This number represents the gap width as a percentage of the secondary chart width.

3. To change the size of the secondary chart, under Second Plot Size box, drag the slider to increase or decrease the

number, or type the number that you want to use in the percentage box.

of 8Excel 2007 Help


NOTE This number represents the size as a percentage of the main chart size.

TOP OF PAGE

Save a chart as a template

If you want to create another chart like the one that you just created, you can save the chart as a template that you can use as

the basis for other similar charts.

• Click the chart that you want to save as a template.

• On the Design tab, in the Type group, click Save as Template.

• In the File name box, type a name for the template.

TIP Unless you specify a different folder, the template file (.crtx) will be saved in the Charts folder, and the template

becomes available under Templates in both the Insert Chart dialog box (Insert tab, Charts group, Dialog Box

Launcher ) and the Change Chart Type dialog box (Design tab, Type group, Change Chart Type).

For more information about how to apply a chart template, see Reuse a favorite chart by using a chart template.

NOTE A chart template contains chart formatting and stores the colors that are in use when you save the chart as a template.

When you use a chart template to create a chart in another workbook, the new chart uses the colors of the chart template —

not the colors of the document theme that is currently applied to the workbook. To use the document theme colors instead of

the chart template colors, right-click the chart area, and then click Reset to Match Style on the shortcut menu.

TOP OF PAGE

See Also21st century pie chart

Available chart types

Change the format of chart elements

Change the layout or style of a chart

Change the shape fill, outline, or effects of chart elements

Create a chart

Print a chart

View More

of 8Excel 2007 Help


Download - Pie Chart Help

Top Related